Hacked Vita games fixed, replaced on PSN store; hackers undeterred

Remember late last month when Sony removed two PSP games from the Vita's downloadable store to limit the spread of an exploit that allowed homebrew apps on the system? Well those games have been patched and replaced on the store, though the battle to get unsigned code running on the Vita is far from over.

New versions of both Motorstorm: Arctic Edge and Everybody's Tennis were back on the Vita's Playstation Network store as of Wednesday. The reposting follows Sony's release of a new version 1.67 firmware update that patches the exploit, paving the way for existing and new purchasers to redownload the games at their convenience.

While hackers that are already running programs like the Vita Halfbyte Loader through the exploit don't have to update to the new, patched firmware, they won't be able to access certain system features, including the PlayStation Network Store, until they do.

But Sony's protection efforts seem to be amounting to barely a bump in the road for the Vita hacking community. Videos havealready popped up showing homebrew code running on the new 1.67 firmware, purportedly through another downloadable PSP game that has yet to be patched. The community at Wololo.net has vowed to release the details of the new hack to the public soon, and fully expects Sony to repeat history by quickly taking down the targeted game afterward. And we go round and round and round in the circle game.